peristyle
A colonnade surrounding a courtyard, temple, etc., or the yard enclosed by such columns.
One cannot, for example, see the Temple of Æsculapius as one stands in the fine open courtyard as it was intended one should do; the interstices on that side of the peristyle have been blocked by Venetian Gothic buildings.
A porch surrounded by columns.
A sacred roofed courtyard with a central pillar (the potomitan), used as a space for voodoo ceremonies, either alone or as an adjunct to an enclosed temple or altar-room.
The peristyle is a roofed structure, open at the sides, in which most of the ceremonials and dances take place.
Where it comes from
From French péristyle, from Classical Latin peristȳlum, from Ancient Greek περίστυλον (perístulon), from περι- (peri-, “around”) + στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”), equivalent to peri- + -style.
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry peristyle (CC BY-SA 4.0).